I feel like I am going to throw up.

I was having a pretty good Friday afternoon at work, a little slow, but good. Then the client from hell. A half an hour being screamed at by someone that is a coworkers client, but she had the nerve to take an afternoon off when he needed her. I get called every sexist name in the book & finally hang up on him.
Then the phone rings again. I am sure it is the client calling back to yell some more, but NO. It is my psycho ex-friend I have not talked to in months because I do not understand her & betrayed her by no hating the man she was divorcing, all hysterical needing my help to save her daughter from her evil, violent ex-husband, NOT. I am shaking & queasy & watching my relaxing Friday evening shot to hell so I can go play shrink to these idiots to keep them from destroying their daughter's life.
Thanks for letting me vent.

Must feel so good to just let it out here. Hope that makes this Friday a little easier.

Why on earth would you go? You called her "psycho ex-friend," so why on earth would make you jump just because she flips out and calls you?

If you behave like a trained doormat, you'll be treated like a trained doormat, and I believe you deserve better.

she will make sure it is the daughter that pays.
I cannot stand to see this little girl hurt any more than she has already been hurt.
If I could I would take her home to live with me.

Stay away. I hate to sound cynical, but you can't save the world.

:hug:

(Maddy McCall)

You can't do a thing to improve anything in that family's life, so you'd best just take care of yourself.

If you suspect abuse, report them, but you are simply encouraging all of this by giving in to the woman who called you.

You and I have the same philosophy on life, as I have noticed from many of your posts.

(Maddy McCall)

Let's keep at it, and, yeah, if you're ever in the DC area, scream and I'll venture out of the BatCave................

:toast:

a good weekend.

Fuggem. :toast:

She is afraid to talk to her mom or her dad, but will talk to me.
I cannot turn my back on her.

I would suggest to dear ex-friend that she get herself and her daughter into counseling.

You are a good person to feel it's your duty, but, as long as this child has you to vent to instead of her own mother, she won't ever be able to develop trust and confidence in her mother.

The best thing you can do is give your friend the name of a good counselor and then get out of the situation.

She make bush look honest. And I fear that she is leading her daughter down the same path.
I am sure their counselor does not hear much of the truth.

...but if she's still a friend, after all, well...sometimes friends make demands on one's time. "That's what friends are for," "you have to be a friend to get a friend," and all that...:shrug:

:hug:

You certainly treat humanity better than it's treatin you today!

You need to develop an office phone emergency signal. Something such as placing a hand to your throat, or a special wave. When someone else sees you doing that, they know they should come over and tell you that you have a meeting, or an emergency call, or whatever excuse works.

I once worked at a small paper where we used this kind of signal. When someone was catching hell on the phone, they gave the signal, and someone else would rescue them with an excuse.

Our supervisors are very supportive about us hanging up on abusive clients. I probably let this guy get away with more because I was in a good mood to start & he was not my client.

Don't let those fools ruin your Friday and your weekend.
As for your so-called "friend" she didn't respect your opinions in the first place, so there's no need to have any further contact with her. It's her problem, not yours.

I don't know if this is feasible for you to do, (and I realise you were venting, not asking for advice) but abusive callers need to be shut down. How I handled it was this way. "I am sorry you are frustrated and angry. I'm sure I would be too, were I in your shoes. I am going to ask you to calm down though. This is not getting us anywhere, and if you continue along these lines, I will terminate the call." Or transfer the rude caller up. To a supervisor.

Again sorry for the shit. you aren't paid enough though, I'll wager, to be spoken to in that way.

And sorry about the psycho friend. I hate it when kids are exploited in that way. I hope you can help that little girl. Maybe that'll make the rest of the day-um-not so important.

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